One of the most common questions I get asked about on a client’s individual tax return is the amount of donations to an organization like Goodwill that is “acceptable?”  I use the term “acceptable” loosely because I feel as if one should only claim a deduction if the deduction is actually made.

The conversation generally runs along the lines of:

Me: “Did you make any non-cash charitable donations to Goodwill, Big Brother/Big Sister, etc.?”

Client: “Yes, but I’m not sure how much?”

Me: “Did you get a receipt?”

Client: “I’m not positive where I would have put it if I did…”

If the above mentioned client were to get audited, the IRS agent would inquire as to what type of non-cash items were donated and the value of such donation.  The majority of my clients donate clothing and household items; such as, kitchen appliances, furniture, etc.  I never really know if my client’s truly understand the actual “Good Price” donation value that should be used for tax purposes.  So just in case, I’ll attach the latest information from Goodwill Guide that was provided to me on my last visit:

As I write this, I’m continuously playing an old Gillette Venus shaving commercial over and over again in my mind.  Why would anyone not want to be a goddess running down the beach with gorgeous legs and hot foreign men around you?  Seems like a silly question to ask, yet whenever I shave my legs I never see myself running down the beach or meeting up with any hot foreign men… Gillette’s advertising is super though and while I stand in the shaving aisle at a major retail store, I think to myself that I should buy one of their razors.

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I am thrilled that I was part of the first ever Financial Blogging conference in the United States!  As much as I am a “new” blogger, I’m very happy that I jumped at the chance to be part of the conference back in April.  I was not sure how I felt about attending as the weekend approached though.  To be honest, I thought I might be viewed as an outsider because I do not consider myself a true blogger. In reality, I am a blogger since you are obviously reading my blog “The Financialite” right now but I do not blog as frequently as my peers.  I do not blog as much as I should because my focus has never been to do this full time.  The goal of this blog has always been to connect and engage other likeminded financially conscious individuals.  My goal is not to give you any coupons, limited time offers or ebooks available on my blog… It’s just not me.  My goal is merely to help others around me become financially conscious of their decisions.

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Now that the initial shock of “ohmygod, how dare they increase their prices by 60%” has worn off, how do you really feel about your Netflix subscription? I have to say that I think Netflix’s concept is outstanding. In 1999 when Netflix first launched, it was a subscription-based digital distribution service that probably none of us were members of. Over the next decade, Netflix became a household name as a provider of on-demand internet streaming media. With over 10 million subscribers and over 100,000 of various movie and television titles for its customers to choose from and continuing to grow at record speeds.. why would you not subscribe to their services?

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